Taipei City councilors from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday criticized the city government for including too many restrictions in its referendum law, demonstrating its distrust of the people and violating the fundamental spirit of democracy.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"The fundamental spirit of the referendum law is to let people exercise their civil rights directly and make up for the inadequacy of the representative system of government," Ma said.
"Yet it does not mean that it replaces the representative system," he said.
Ma said that the holding referendums was a right of the public, not the government.
"Only people can launch a referendum. The government by no means should interfere with it," the mayor said.
Ma said that referendums would not be held at the same time as elections to ensure that the focus of the referendum issues will not be confused with other issues.
Referendum results would be legally binding, Ma said, and the city would not hold "advisory referendums," as the central government has proposed.
DPP City Councilor Lee Wen-ying (
Lee said Ma's stance now contradicted his previous comments on the issue.
In 1991, when Ma was justice minister, he had opposed referendums, Lee said.
And in 1993, Ma said that referendums should be held during elections to save resources.
"But the city's referendum law is totally reversed," Lee said.
DPP City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (
"Proposing a referendum requires the signatures of 10 percent of citizens who voted in the last mayoral election, which is about 195,000 people," Wang said.
"But the population of Neihu, for example, is less than 300,000. The requirement is just too high," Wang said.
DPP City Councilor Liu Yao-ren (
"Even projects that the city government submits to the city council don't require a so-called impact evaluation," Liu said.
"The city's intention to make referendums difficult for citizens is obvious," Lin said.
DPP City Councilor Hsu Kuo-yung (
"There were 202 referendums held together with elections in the United States last year," Hsu said.
"I don't see why people in Taiwan cannot be endowed with the same [right]," he said.
"In fact, Ma has been holding an assumption that people are irrational and unreliable. I doubt if Ma realizes the real meaning of democracy," Hsu said.
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